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Nexans is installing North America’s longest submarine power cable!

The current installation of the HVDC cable connecting the island of Newfoundland to Nova Scotia is a major operation. A significant number of Nexans’ employees and subcontractors in place, working to bring more renewable energy to the region.

“The Maritime Link interconnector crosses the Cabot Strait in Canada and comprises two 200 kV mass impregnated (MI) HVDC cables, each of which are 170 km long, weighing approx. 5,500 tons and will be installed at a depth of up to 470 meters.

After nearly three years of engineering work and production of the two submarine cables and the land cables at Nexans’ facilities in Halden, Norway, and at Futtsu, Japan, installation of the first submarine cable began April, 2017. Onshore work including land cable installation is proceeding in parallel, with preparations on both sides of the intake already underway since March 2017.

Skilled people at work
"We have highly skilled people in all parts of the operation, from marine installation, onshore installation, engineering and trenching. We use our own cable laying vessel C/S Nexans Skagerrak to lay the cable, while we are using the hired-in Polar King for work to protect the cable on the seabed by trenching with Nexans’ own CapJet system”, says project manager, Geir Korstad.

The second submarine cable is on a barge currently being transported on a heavy-lift vessel from Futtsu, Japan through the Panama canal, heading towards Canada. Upon arrival, it will be spooled over to C/S Nexans Skagerrak, before it is ready for installation.

Once the cables are installed, work will commence on protecting the cable on the seabed with CapJet and rock protection work. The entire cable installation is expected to be completed by the end of summer 2017.

More about the Maritime Link project:
The Maritime Link is a 500 MW HVDC cable which will transport clean and renewable energy from the Lower Churchill project at Muskrat Falls to Nova Scotia, Canada. The project forms part of the strategy to address the increasing demand for more renewable energy in the region. The project includes two 170 km submarine cables that cross the Cabot Strait, with close to 50 km of overhead lines in Nova Scotia and, moreover, nearly 300 km of overhead lines in Newfoundland for connection to the existing cable network.

All Photos: Emera
Pictures: Team from Emera and Nexans,
Nexans own vessel, C/S Nexans Skagerrak, is doing the cable laying
Polar King is hired in for work to protect the cable on the seabed by trenching with Nexans’ own CapJet system.